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in the Royal Docks Group — a responsibility which is recognised by his title of "Senior Inspector".
To assist the Senior Inspector in his fuller responsibilities for meat inspection, the following
recommendations were made
(i) An additional Sanitary Inspector duly qualified both generally and for the inspection of
meat and other foods should be appointed to the staff of the Port Health Authority and
either he, or one of the existing members of the Inspectorate should be appointed as a
whole-time assistant to the Senior Inspector on the Royal Docks in his responsibility for
meat inspection.
(ii) A second additional Sanitary Inspector with qualifications to inspect meat and other foods
should also be added to the staff of Sanitary Inspectors employed by the Port Health
Authority. This Inspector to work at Tilbury Docks as an assistant to the existing
Sanitary Inspector who works single-handed there and has to cover a very large area with
responsibilities that are likely to be increased following the implementation of the Port
of London Authority's proposals to make a new Landing Stage and Quay in the Tilbury
Dock. The present Inspector has to devote much of his time, often amounting to several
hours, to enquiries and the disinfection of ships in connection with the numerous cases of
infectious diseases which arise in the type of ship berthing within his area. He has also,
on occasion, to deal with the Shellfish Industry at Leigh-on-Sea. It has been estimated
that some 15% of the meat imported into the Port of London is landed in Tilbury Docks.
The proposed new assistant could carry on during the present Inspector's absence on
duties which take him out of the dock, when he is sick and when he is on vacation,
whereas at the present time a locum tenens has to be provided from the already hardpressed
Inspectorate at the Royal Dock Group.
(iii) The Royal Dock Group has a quayage of approximately twelve miles and the meat discharging
berths, which may be serving as many as seven meat ships at any one time, are
scattered throughout this distance. As it is considered necessary for the Senior Inspector
to visit these ships personally at least twice a day and also to meet various urgent calls
throughout the Dock Group, the question of transport arises.
In this connection it was suggested that a Utility Class Vehicle should be provided which,
apart from being used by the Senior Inspector for the purposes mentioned above, would
also be available, as necessary, to the other Inspectors working in the Royal Docks and to
the Rodent Staff not already provided with transport.
(iv) As an interim measure and to tide over an experimental period of two to three years, it was
recommended that the appointment be made of two "Meat Watchers" or "Meat Sorters",
each of whom would be allocated a district and would maintain a constant watch over the
discharge of meat from ships to detect any damaged or unsound meat being landed, reporting
any such conditions to the Senior Inspector who would then visit the ship and take the
appropriate action as to disposal. In other words these "Meat Watchers" would take the
place of the Ministry of Food representatives mentioned above and would be recruited
from men with a thorough knowledge of meat and a wide experience of dock procedure.
It so happened that there were at the time two employees of the Port of London Authority
who were highly skilled and experienced in these matters and who were due to retire
shortly. They could be re-employed by the Port Health Authority for an interim period of
two to three years when their experience, understanding of the dockers and knowledge of
the complexities of the meat trade, would prove invaluable at a time when the Sanitary
Inspectors were still learning to become accustomed to the new arrangements. At the end
of the interim period the position could be reviewed with the object of either (a) continuing
their services, (b) replacing them by similar types of men or (c) replacing them by qualified
Sanitary Inspectors.
As the result of the above recommendations your Worshipful Committee duly appointed two
additional fully qualified Sanitary Inspectors, one of whom was posted to the Royal Docks Group
and one to the Tilbury Dock. In addition the two men referred to above were appointed as "Meat
Watchers" in the Royal Docks and a Utility Class Vehicle was purchased and based on .-the
Royal Docks in the charge of the Senior Sanitary Inspector.
At the time of writing this report these additions to the staff coupled with the amenities
provided by the full operation of the "Meat Inspection Shop" at No. 6 Cold Store, Royal Albert
Dock has proved most satisfactory and has fully justified the decisions of your Worshipful
Committee.
DANGEROUS DRUGS
During the year fifty-five certificates authorising the purchase of scheduled Dangerous Drugs
were issued under the Dangerous Drugs (No. 3) Regulations, 1923, amending the Dangerous
Drugs Regulations, 1921, Regulation 15 of which is as follows
"If a foreign ship in any port in Great Britain requires to obtain a supply of any
of the drugs in order to complete the necessary equipment of the ship, the
master of the ship is authorised to purchase and be in possession of such
quantity of any of the drugs as may be certified by the Medical Officer of Health
of the Port where the ship is (or in his absence by the Assistant Medical Officer
of Health) to be necessary for the purpose, the quantity not to exceed what is
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